facebookexperimental/recoil

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

★ 19,484JavaScriptAudience · developerComplexity · 3/5LicenseSetup · easy

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((Recoil))
    What it does
      Manages React state
      Reduces re-renders
      Avoids prop drilling
    How it works
      Atoms store data
      Components subscribe
      Selective updates
    Use cases
      Complex shared state
      Large React apps
      Performance optimization
    Tech stack
      JavaScript
      React
      npm package
    When to use
      Redux too heavy
      Props drilling pain
      Experimental features

mindmap root((Recoil)) What it does Manages React state Reduces re-renders Avoids prop drilling How it works Atoms store data Components subscribe Selective updates Use cases Complex shared state Large React apps Performance optimization Tech stack JavaScript React npm package When to use Redux too heavy Props drilling pain Experimental features

Click or tap to explore — scroll the page freely

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Manage user authentication state and logged-in user data across a large React app without prop drilling.

USE CASE 2

Build a shopping cart that updates only the cart component and checkout button when items change, not the entire page.

USE CASE 3

Share form state (like selected filters or search input) across multiple independent components without Redux boilerplate.

What is it built with?

JavaScriptReactnpm

How does it compare?

	facebookexperimental/recoil	mdx-js/mdx	testing-library/react-testing-library
Stars	19,484	19,509	19,582
Language	JavaScript	JavaScript	JavaScript
Setup difficulty	easy	moderate	easy
Complexity	3/5	3/5	2/5
Audience	developer	developer	developer

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

Use freely for any purpose including commercial, as long as you keep the copyright notice.

In plain English

Recoil is an experimental state management library for React apps, created by Facebook. In a React application, "state" refers to data that determines what the user sees, things like whether a user is logged in, items in a shopping cart, or which tab is active. As apps grow large, sharing and syncing this data across many components becomes painful with React's built-in tools alone. Recoil offers a different approach: you break your state into small, independent pieces called atoms, and components subscribe only to the pieces they care about. This means only the parts of the app that actually need to update will re-render, which keeps performance smooth. The library is described as experimental and is designed to work with the newest React features. It is installed as an npm package and used inside JavaScript React projects. You would reach for Recoil when your React app has complex shared state that is awkward to manage through prop-drilling (passing data down through many layers of components) or existing tools like Redux feel too heavyweight for your needs.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1

Show me how to set up Recoil atoms and selectors in a React app to manage a user's login state and preferences.

Prompt 2

How do I use Recoil to manage a shopping cart so that adding an item only re-renders the cart component, not the whole page?

Prompt 3

Give me a working example of a Recoil atom for a todo list and a component that subscribes to it.

Prompt 4

What's the difference between using Recoil atoms versus Redux for managing state in a medium-sized React app?

Frequently asked questions

What is recoil?

A state management library for React that breaks app data into small, independent pieces so components only re-render when their data changes.

What language is recoil written in?

Mainly JavaScript. The stack also includes JavaScript, React, npm.

What license does recoil use?

Use freely for any purpose including commercial, as long as you keep the copyright notice.

How hard is recoil to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.

Who is recoil for?

Mainly developer.

Open on GitHub → Explain another repo

This repo across BitVibe Labs

Scan in gitsafehub Deploy in gitdeployhub facebookexperimental on gitmyhub

Verify against the repo before relying on details.